Joe DiMaggio

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Lore & Background

DiMaggio was a three-time American League Most Valuable Player Award winner and an All-Star in each of his 13 seasons. The Yankees won ten American League pennants and nine World Series championships during his tenure. His nine career World Series rings tie him with several other Yankees legends, including Phil Rizzuto, placing him just behind Yogi Berra's record 10. At retirement after the 1951 season, he ranked fifth in career home runs (361) and sixth in career slugging percentage (.579). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955 and was voted the sport's greatest living player in 1969. He is also widely known for his marriage and lifelong devotion to Marilyn Monroe.

In Their Own Story

The 1941 season saw DiMaggio achieve the impossible. From May 15 to July 16, he hit safely in 56 consecutive games, a record that still stands. "Baseball didn't really get into my blood until I knocked off that hitting streak," he said. "Getting a daily hit became more important to me than eating, drinking, or sleeping." This streak began after he had already set a minor league record with 61 consecutive games of hitting safely for the San Francisco Seals in 1933. In the 1947 World Series, Al Gionfriddo made a famous catch near the 415-foot mark in left-center field at Yankee Stadium—a ball that would have been a home run in most other ballparks. DiMaggio's power was often suppressed by his home park; statistician Bill Jenkinson noted that "every time he batted in his home field during his entire career, he did so knowing that it was physically impossible for him to hit a home run to the half of the field directly in front of him." Bill James calculated that DiMaggio lost more home runs due to his home park than any other player in history.

Reader's Guide

DiMaggio made his Major League debut on May 3, 1936. He set a franchise rookie record with 29 home runs in 1936. In 1937, he led the majors with 46 home runs, 151 runs scored, 167 RBIs, and 418 total bases. He won his first batting title and MVP in 1939. He won his third MVP in 1947. On February 7, 1949, he signed a $100,000 contract, becoming the first baseball player to break $100,000 in earnings. He announced his retirement on December 11, 1951.

Did You Know?

• DiMaggio hit safely in 61 consecutive games in the Pacific Coast League in 1933, a PCL record.
• He missed the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons due to military service during World War II.
• His brothers Vince and Dom also were major league center fielders.
• He was born in Martinez, California, to Italian immigrants.

Italian Roots and Early Struggles

Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio was born on November 25, 1914, in Martinez, California, the eighth of nine children born to Italian immigrants Giuseppe and Rosalia DiMaggio. His father was a fisherman, as were generations of DiMaggios before him. When Joe was a toddler, his family moved to the North Beach section of San Francisco. Giuseppe hoped his five sons would become fishermen, but DiMaggio recalled that he would do anything to get out of cleaning his father's boat, as the smell of dead fish nauseated him. Giuseppe called him "lazy" and "good-for-nothing." At age ten, he took up baseball, playing third base at the North Beach playground. He dropped out of Galileo High School and worked odd jobs. By 1931, he was playing semi-pro ball. In 1932, his brother Vince, playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, talked his manager into letting DiMaggio fill in at shortstop. In his full rookie year, from May 27 to July 25, 1933, he hit safely in 61 consecutive games, a PCL record and the second-longest in Minor League Baseball history. In 1934, he suffered a potentially career-threatening knee injury when he tore ligaments of his right knee while stepping out of a jitney. After he passed a physical, the Yankees bought him for $50,000 and five players, with the Seals keeping him for the 1935 season. DiMaggio batted .398 with 154 RBIs and 34 home runs, leading the Seals to the 1935 PCL title and earning league MVP honors.

Unprecedented Dominance with the Yankees

DiMaggio made his Major League debut on May 3, 1936, batting ahead of Lou Gehrig. He set a franchise record for rookies in 1936 by hitting 29 home runs in 138 games, a record that stood for over 80 years until Aaron Judge hit 52 homers in 2017. In 1937, he led the majors with 46 home runs, 151 runs scored, 167 RBIs, and 418 total bases, all career highs. He finished second in AL MVP voting. In 1939, he was nicknamed "the Yankee Clipper" by Yankees play-by-play announcer Arch McDonald, who likened DiMaggio's speed and range to the then-new Pan American airliner. That August, he recorded 53 RBIs, tying Hack Wilson's 1930 record for most in a single month. He won his first batting title and MVP award, leading the Yankees to their fourth consecutive World Series championship. In 1947, he won his third MVP award and his sixth World Series. That year, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail verbally agreed to trade DiMaggio for Ted Williams, but the trade was canceled when MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra. DiMaggio also stole home five times in his career. By 1950, he was ranked the second-best center fielder by the Sporting News, after Larry Doby.

The Legendary Hitting Streak

From May 15 to July 16, 1941, DiMaggio hit safely in 56 consecutive games, a record that remains unbroken. This feat was preceded by his minor league streak of 61 consecutive games in 1933. DiMaggio said, "Baseball didn't really get into my blood until I knocked off that hitting streak. Getting a daily hit became more important to me than eating, drinking, or sleeping." His consistency was so remarkable that by 1947, Hank Greenberg noted that DiMaggio covered so much ground in center field that the only way to get a hit was "to hit 'em where Joe wasn't." DiMaggio holds the record for most seasons with more home runs than strikeouts (minimum 20 home runs), a feat he accomplished seven times, and five times consecutively from 1937 to 1941. He could have possibly exceeded 500 home runs and 2,000 RBIs had he not missed the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons due to military service during World War II.

Enduring Legacy and Personal Life

At the time of his retirement after the 1951 season, DiMaggio ranked fifth in career home runs (361) and sixth in career slugging percentage (.579). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955 and was voted the sport's greatest living player in a poll taken during baseball's centennial year of 1969. His brothers Vince (1912–1986) and Dom (1917–2009) also were major league center fielders. DiMaggio is also widely known for his marriage and lifelong devotion to Marilyn Monroe. He died on March 8, 1999. Through May 2009, DiMaggio was tied with Mark McGwire for third place all-time in home runs over the first two calendar years in the major leagues (77). Through 2011, he was one of seven major leaguers to have had at least four 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons in their first five years. DiMaggio hit 148 home runs in 3,360 at-bats at home versus 213 home runs in 3,461 at-bats on the road. His slugging percentage at home was .546, and on the road, it was .610.